


Run

by HideTheJudge



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Road Trip, also later, hitchhiker!au, i'll probably add more characters, probably later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-01
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-17 20:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1400755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HideTheJudge/pseuds/HideTheJudge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While driving out to California to reunite with the last of his family, Dean picks up a blue-eyed hitchhiker running from his.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, so this is my first fic posted probably anywhere... Hope I did well!

 Dean pulled his car over and leaned over to reach the passenger side door. He rolled down the window just as the hitchhiker reached the door.

The hitchhiker leaned down and rested his hand on the Impala's warm roof. He flashed an attempt at a smile while Dean placed his best grin securely on his face.

"Need a ride?" Dean asked with an amused glint dancing in his eyes.

"I would appreciate one, yes," the man said as he broke eye contact. He looked back at Dean after a short moment. "I assume you're offering one?"

Dean patted the open seat beside him, "Hop right on in...?"

"Castiel."

Dean gave a curt nod, his grin still in place as he gave his own name.

Castiel, whom Dean had made a quick decision to call "Cas" for sort (because really?), placed his two duffel bags in the back of the car before getting in. Dean watches and waits while the guy gets buckled in before asking where he wants to go.

Cas shrugs.

"I don't know of any places called 'shoulder movement,' so I'm gonna need a name," Dean says.

Cas shrugs again, "You can take me anywhere."

"Anywhere?"

Cas nods.

"So if I took you to the dump-."

Cas rolls his eyes and goes to roll up his window, "Obviously, I would care if you took me to the nearest dump and dropped me off. Especially since the nearest dump is six miles back and in the other direction." He sighs then, slightly dramatic but wholly believable. "Just... get me out of the state."

"Arizona's pretty big," Dean says. "And we're only in the middle."

Cas rolls his eyes in a way that barely counts as an eye roll and turns to face the barren land. He stares for a while, his jaw clenching as his eyes rove over the pathetic hills. "Then just... get me out of town."

Dean nods, unsure if Cas saw the movement and turns the car back to the road. He turns the radio on, keeping the volume low, and drives.

\----

Cas is... Cas.

He's got what must be two months worth of a beard and the most unkempt mop of hair Dean's ever seen on a person past 12 o' clock. His eyes are a heavenly blue, bright and calming yet interesting. He's rather handsome, too.

Dean has to admit he looks at him a lot.

They're always short glances, barely more than three seconds looking the man up and down. He's half-lied to himself that he's just doing it to check up on the guy. He's kinda on the thin side, and Dean's trying to figure out how far on the thin side. Mostly he's just curious.

Cas looks rather comfortable sitting in Dean's car. He's leaned into the door with his head resting in the palm of his hand. With the other hand, he taps his fingers along to the beat of the current tune onto his thigh. He's crossed his legs and looks like he's about to sit criss-cross applesauce in his seat.

He's pulled his arms out of his ratty trench coat but kept it on is back like its a blanket.

If Dean's honest, he looks cute. Ruggedly cute, but still cute.

“Dean,” Cas says about two hours into the drive, breaking Dean free from his reverie. “You can drop me off here,” he says as he points to a lonely gas station down the road.

Dean inspects it from his seat, “You know the place?”

“I've never been this far from town,” Cas explains.

Dean huffs. He considers his options. He _could_ drop Cas off at the gas station. He has time to slow down and it looks busy enough to have someone who can take him further. Dean could even go in and get a snack then say a quick goodbye to Cas and finally drive off with a tank full of gas.

He could also not.

As Cas is fitting his arms back through the sleeves of his trench coat, Dean speeds past the gas station. Cas watches it go by, a confused look settling onto his face. Once it's overly obvious Dean isn't turning back, he turns to squint at Dean.

Dean glances at him and the smile he didn't know he was wearing grows a bit. “You should see your face, dude.”

“I don't understand,” he says simply.

“Yeah, I can tell,” Dean chuckles out. “I've decided to take you all the way out of the state.”

Cas is silent for a moment. If Dean looked hard enough, he'd see a small, small smile. “Thank you.”

Dean nods, eyes trained on the road. “Anytime, Cas."


	2. Chapter 2

 “Are we going to stop and eat anytime soon?” Cas asks some three hours later.

“Uh,” Dean starts. “Depends on how hungry you are.”

“I'm surprised you haven't heard my tummy rumblies yet,” Cas says as he rubs his belly.

Dean raises an eyebrow and barely suppresses a laugh. “'Tummy rumblies'?” He asks.

Cas nods in an oddly serious way to be speaking about “tummy rumblies.” “It's what my brother calls them,” he explains.

“Is your brother five?”

Cas shrugs, “Thirty-five, yes.”

Dean shoots a confused look over at Cas, who shrugs again. “He's a kindergarten teacher.”

Dean scoffs. He turns down a road that promises a town. “We can stop at a McDonalds or something.”

“Thank you,” Cas says in that rumbling voice of his.

“So,” Dean begins, suddenly wanting conversation. He turns down the music before continuing. “Your brother's a kindergarten teacher?”

Cas readjusts himself before answering. “Yes, he—Gabriel–works at the school somewhere... around here, actually”

“Cool. He like his job?”

“He complains about not having a mature audience at times but... I believe he enjoys it,” Cas says.

“I was almost a teacher,” Dean blurts for some reason.

“Really?” Cas seems to relax, leaning back onto his door.

“Oh yeah,” Dean nods. “When I was in third grade I thought it'd be fun.”

He's lying. He's never even thought of being a teacher.

“What made you change your mind?”

“Uh...” Shit. Why do people not want to be teachers? “I get sick easily.”

“Really?”

No, in fact, he hasn't been sick in three years.

“Oh yeah,” Dean nods with a trademark smirk. “You cough in my general direction and I get a fever of a hundred degrees and the flu.”

What the fuck is he saying?

“Oh, that's awful.” Cas pauses. “I have very bad allergies.”

“Really?” Dean raises an eyebrow and glances over at Cas.

“Yes. Spring is my least favourite time of year. Far too much pollen.”

Dean nods, and looks around as they breech the town. It's... a town, not much to it. Some kids are playing in some kind of garden while their mother watches on. There's a group of people on a porch at another house, all chattering away. It seems nice, but so do a lot of towns.

“Do you think they have a Biggerson's?” Cas asked after looking around in his relaxed spot.

“Hm?”

“A Biggerson's,” Cas repeated. “Their burgers are my favourite. I also enjoy their coffee.”

\----

Dean does, in fact, find a Biggerson's.

Their burgers are okay, but Cas sort of worships them. He gets a goofy smile on his face as he takes his first bite. On his second bite he nods appreciatively. On his third he has to move his burger around to continue getting the best possible experience. He still has that stupid grin on his face.

It's kinda really cute, so Dean can't help the smile that crawls onto his face.

Cas looks up at him then. “Do you like your burger?”

Dean nods, “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

“I think the cheese is my favourite part.”

Dean looks down at his burger, “Cheese?”

Cas cocks his head, not unlike a puppy, “Yes. I have cheese on mine.”

Dean doesn't pout, he _doesn't._ “I don't have cheese.”

“Did you ask for cheese?”

Dean looks at Cas. Then averts his gaze back to his burger. “Didn't think I'd have to,” he mutters.

Cas scoffs in a way that sounds more like an amused chuckle as he passes his burger closer to Dean. He plucks Dean's plate away from him and places it in front of himself. Slowly, Dean pulls the burger that was once Cas' closer to him.

“This mine now or are you using my side of the table to store food?”

Cas picks up Dean–well, Cas'–burger, and takes a bite. He gives a curt nod, “It's the least I can do. For the ride you've given me.”

“Am giving,” Dean corrects. “We've still got a little ways out of the state.”

Cas looks up, thinly veiled surprise on his face. “You're not... going to leave me here?”

Dean shakes his head. “Nah.”

“Oh.” Cas looks down at his food. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well,” Dean waves his hand. “Can't have you riding along with strange men.”

Cas chuckles.

They eat the rest of the meal in surprisingly comfortable silence.

\----

Cas and Dean don't argue about much. Cas keeps to himself and barely talks. One time, so far the only time, they fussed over the music volume. Cas had turned it down at the best part and Dean promptly turned it back up, accidentally cranking it up six notches than it had been. Cas had shot him the dirtiest look Dean had ever seen as he continued to air drum throughout the solo.

Dean had almost crashed the car. Cas made a bitchface the likes of which Dean hadn't seen since Sam left for college.

Now they're having their second argument.

“I just don't see the point,” Cas said with obvious exasperation. “I took a nap before we stopped for lunch, I'm completely capable of driving us the rest of the way.”

Dean sighed, “Cas, you drive now, we make it in an hour, and then I have to wake up to let you out.”

“I can show myself out,” Cas rolled his eyes. “All you have to do is sleep, let me drive and when we pass the border I can drop you off at a hotel for the night.”

“Or we can stop now and both get a good night's rest,” Dean countered.

“Dean, please, it'd be too much trouble,” Cas sighed.

Dean scoffed, “It's fine, Cas. I don't mind.”

Cas crossed his arms and looked out the window. “I do.”

“Well,” Dean started. He opened his door. “We're already here, so.”

Dean got out of the car before Cas had a chance to respond and moved to go get his things out of the trunk. Like Cas, he had his fair share of duffel bags, five to be exact.

He wasn't... doing whatever Cas was doing, though. He had no objective. The guy was just running. Dean wasn't sure what from, or even why, but that much was obvious.

No, Dean has a clear reason for carrying five duffel bags. He's just going to visit his brother, Sam. Then get him to come to Kansas with him, if he's lucky enough to pry him away from his fiance Jess. Then maybe stay with him until he got his own place.

He used to live with his dad in Texas, but John Winchester is no more. He's just a bunch of ashes sitting in a box in Dean's trunk. Right now, the most he's doing is waiting for Dean and Sam to reach Kansas to spread his ashes out in Lawrence. “Preferably with your mother,” he had said about a day before he died. “Preferably with your brother there.”

Dean had agreed, of course, for his dying father's sake.

Cas was beside him suddenly, both of his duffel bags hanging from his shoulders. He looked annoyed, but he didn't begin to argue again. He wasn't really looking at Dean either, just sort of staring at the motel. Whatever. He could be pissy if he wanted; he and Dean were staying at the motel.

“You got everything?”

He jiggled his bags.

Dean rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Yeah, okay.”

\----

The interior of the motel was so cheesy, Dean could have sworn they'd pulled the design out of a crayon box. The walls were bright yellow for some reason while everything else was either puke green or a deep sea blue. They had a red couch with suspicious stains that Cas refused to sit on, and the shittiest lamp Dean had ever had the displeasure of using.

Their beds were as comfortable as they could be, all things considered. Dean was just grateful they didn't look unclean, so he could imagine they were.

Cas refused to touch them, too.

“Cas, man, they're completely fine,” Dean said while he stretched out. “Best beds I've seen at a place like this I've ever seen.”

“It just all looks unsanitary to me,” Cas mumbled, his duffel bags still clinging to his shoulders.

“Dude,” Dean started as he got off his bed. “Look, they're _fine_.” He flopped onto Cas' bed and pulled himself into the middle. “Look at me. Right smack in the center, and not a hint of sickness on me.”

“Untrue,” Cas mumbled. “You have a very obvious case of smartass.”

Dean lifted his head up to shoot Cas a look.

“It's very life threatening, I'm terribly sorry,” Cas continued, straight-faced.

“You threatening me, Doc?” Dean glared.

Cas turned away and began walking over to the shower. “I wouldn't dare.”

Dean could swore he saw a smirk cross over Cas' face. ' _Fucker,'_ Dean thought with a smirk of his own.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh this took longer than expected... Which will probably end up being a normal thing as school is starting back up. I'll think up a schedule.

Dean and Cas don't have a morning routine but they work around each other with extreme ease. Dean gets into the shower first, as Cas apparently sleeps like the dead but longer. When Dean gets out out the shower and Cas is _still_ sleeping, he prods the guy until he fidgets enough in the cocoon of blankets he made throughout the night to convince Dean to leave him alone for the moment. They've got a coffee machine (thank God) that serves to keep Dean busy while Cas is in the shower.

At least that's where he should be, but one look at his bed shows that he has not, in fact, moved from his cocoon.

“Cas,” Dean calls.

There's a noise of acknowledgment.

“Dude, c'mon,” Dean groans out as he moves over to Cas. He's startled to find Cas staring up at him, his eyes darkened by sleep.

“Give me a minute,” the man mumbled out.

“Are you even awake?” Dean sat on his own bed and sipped at his coffee.

“I'm about... halfway there.”

“Well, we gotta get outta here soon,” Dean said.

Cas waved his hand (at least, there was movement under the covers that could be interpreted as the wave of a hand) and mumbled, “We need to rest. I'd hate to be... asleep when you reach the state border.”

Dean scoffed, “You got a plan for California?”

“Walk,” Cas mumbled.

“To...?”

Dean's pretty sure Cas shrugged. “Places.” He rolled over onto his back, “I'll go sightseeing.”

“Your plan is to walk all over California?”

“Maybe the world.”

Dean rolled his eyes with a smirk, “Well, you can't do all that in bed.”

Cas made a sound of agreement before rolling onto his stomach and laying there for a few seconds. Then he slowly, ever so slowly, rolled out of bed and onto the floor which prompted Dean to unleash a laugh unlike he had in what seemed like months.

“Why did you do that?” Dean asked through his laughter.

“I'm used to bigger beds,” Cas mumbled.

“Motels don't give you luxury,” Dean smirked, his laughter dying down.

Cas stretched again before sitting up. He stayed there until Dean nudged his back with a foot, “I'm about to start blaring music.”

“Don't,” Cas warned as he finally stood up. He stretched again, revealing a thin strip of waist Dean did _not_ look at. He grabbed one of his duffel bags along the way to the bathroom.

“Didn't you take a shower last night?”

“I slept on a _motel_ bed, Dean,” Cas explained. “I need another shower.”

“Okay,” Dean chuckled out while Cas entered the bathroom.

\----

Cas was still in the shower an hour later, and Dean's not a snoop, he's _not_ , so he doesn't look through Cas' duffel bag while he's in there.

Even if it's open.

And really, it's just a book, so it's not like he'd really be snooping. He just wants to know what kind of books Cas reads in his free time, that's all. So Dean's not snooping when he inches over to Cas' duffel and plucks out the first book he sees.

Except, it's not a book he's pulled out. The front cover reads “The Twins,” and has a picture of two grubby looking boys with dark hair and blue eyes with their hands entwined. They look identical, except one is frowning and the other is smiling while he waves.

Dean opens it, because he's too curious now to put it down, and is treated by an almost play-by-play of what Dean assumes is Cas' (and his twin's) childhood.

It starts with a woman lying in a hospital bed holding one crying baby with a swab of dark hair while a man holds a baby just like the other one in his arms. The baby looks oddly serious; Dean assumes it's Cas. The next photo features an older child holding one baby with a wide grin on both of their faces. In the next he's holding a baby, but this one's crying and the boy looks nervous. There's a mass of stereotypical baby photos after that, some featuring a third person while some only one of the two or just one. After a certain point, though, Dean can't help but notice, the man in the first photograph disappears from any photos. He's last seen in a photo with a grumpy dark-haired kid and an older one with long hair.

Dean's looking at a photo with the twins on the beach, one with a scowl on his face and the other with a triumphant grin and a half-eaten ice cream cone.

“Jimmy,” comes Cas' voice in Dean's ear. Dean clutches the photo album to his chest and turns to Cas, wild-eyed and caught. “Was absolutely enraged that I stole his ice cream,” he finishes.

Cas reaches out and takes the album out of Dean's grip.

“I-I, uh—It I—” Dean stuttered, “W-when did you, uh?”

“A few minutes ago.”

“I was just, ah...”

“Going through my photographs,” Cas finished for him.

“I-well,” Dean sighed. No point in lying, Winchester. “Yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the floor. “Sorry.”

Cas gave a small “mm” of acknowledgment before grabbing his duffel and placing the album back.

“I'm sorry, Cas,” Dean said again.

Cas nodded and placed his duffel beside the other, now on his bed. “It's... fine, Dean. Just...” he paused to sigh. “Don't... go through this bag. The other just has clothes, but this holds private things.”

“Okay,” Dean says.

“Thank you,” Cas nods. “For understanding.”

“Yep. That's me,” Dean rambles. “Mr. Understanding.”

Cas nods and goes to pull on his coat. “Are we leaving soon?”

\----

The car's silent while they drive out. Cas rests in the passenger seat, a half-eaten biscuit in his lap. They haven't spoken much, in fact Dean isn't sure he's heard Cas form a full sentence since this morning. It's odd though, because it's a comfortable silence. Dean feels relaxed; Cas looks like he's about to doze off.

It's good.

Which is why Dean feels like a total asshat when he breaks the silence with, “So, California.”

Cas glaces over at him and nods. “Mhm.”

“This morning you, uh,” Dean pauses. “You said your plan was to just...”

“Walk.”

Dean turns to face him, “You were being serious?”

Cas nods, “I have no further plans after the border.”

Dean stared at him.

“Dean,” Cas warned, “the road.”

Dean turned to face the road again. He pursed his lips and drove quietly for a while. Eventually, he turned to Cas, who had began to nibble on his biscuit again. “How do you feel about Stanford?”

“The college?” Cas asked after swallowing.

“Mhm.”

“It's not on my sightseeing list,” Cas said. “I think one of my cousins went there.”

“Did they like it there?”

“I'm not sure. I haven't spoken to Hester in a while.”

“So if I offered to take you there...?” Dean chanced a look over to Cas.

Cas had one eyebrow raised. His mouth was open a bit as he stared at Dean for what seemed like forever.

“I,” he started, “I couldn't.”

“Why not?” Dean asked with a scoff. “I'm offering the ride. I'll even let you drive.”

“Dean, it's—“

“No problem,” Dean finished for him. “In fact, if you figure out where you want to go, I'll let you go where ever you want.”

Cas was silent.

“That sound good?”

Cas sighed as the side of his mouth quirked up, “That sounds fine.”

\----

When they pass over the border, Dean doesn't even think to stop. It doesn't look like Cas thinks to ask Dean to stop either. He just lies his head on the window and moves his trenchcoat around to be a bit more comfortable.

Dean drives.

Cas sleeps.

 


End file.
